Etiquette in Camping

Veebyes wrote:
A simple "May we pass through?" will almost certainly get an affirmative answer. Not saying anything will get a "May I help you?" on my part. That is enough to stop them.

Thats what i do

I really dont mind if people cut through the outer edge of my site getting to water, short cutting to a trail, or something of that sort. all they gotta do is ask. My dog is a happy little critter that is very protective of my daughter. If someone pops up unannounced and my daughter is close by playing, she(my dog) will growl and bark until i give her the ok command

Wadcutter wrote:

Another time I turned around to see a woman in her 50s walking thru our site next to our camper. My wife opened the door to come out just as the woman got next to the door. She yelled at my wife "Watch out. You almost hit me."

I would have said to her "Let me know when you are coming by again, I will try to be more accurate next time".

A few years back I was testing a set of night vision goggles we were reviewing. We picked a campsite that was really dark at night. The walking path by the sites, however, was clearly marked and had lights spaced an equal distance apart.

I was sitting in a camp chair with these goggles on, in as close to pitch black as I could get. I could see everything like it was daytime.

During the day we had seen a couple of people cut through the site. They knew we were there, but didn't care.

As I was looking around, I see this same guy turn off the path and come walking through the site. He didn't see me, until I said "Hi there. I'd stop walking right about now". Scared the you-know-what out of him. He couldn't see me. He said he was just walking through, and I explained that he was about to fall into the fire pit, and that I strongly recommended that he stick to the well marked and lit walking path. He turned around, and didn't cut through the site again. I think he was finally able to see me, or at least the really faint red glow of the IR illuminator that I had turned on.

For the record - those Bushnell Binocular Night Vision goggles worked quite well.

A simple "May we pass through?" will almost certainly get an affirmative answer. Not saying anything will get a "May I help you?" on my part. That is enough to stop them.

Every few months someone complains about someone walking thru their campsite and until I joined this forum, I didn't even know that was an issue Lord, folks, we have real problems to worry about in life and that ain't one of them. Chill and enjoy the fresh air.

Well - sometimes not enough native plants between sites in order to prevent sights like this:




Yes - I took this picture... Later I thought he could be a plumber on vacation.

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
I have some rope lights I almost never use. Bad purchase on my part. I keep them for such situations. First try is on the ground. If it continues, they get strung up about chest high.

That said, I've seen an increasing trend in commercial campgrounds to not leave pathways to services between rigs. I was at a campground recently were there was no break for almost 1/2 mile to get to the bath house. If you had the spot in the middle of the back row along the edge of the CG, you would have to walk 1/4 mile to the end of the row, 1/4 mile down the next row to reach the bath house not 200 feet from your rig door.

We were just in a CG in Oregon that was laid out in such a way that it was not really adventitious to walk through anyone's campsite. It is not a new CG but it was well designed. I also noticed that the sites were separated by native plants but most were open on both ends(pass throughs). Lots and lots of folks out walking together or with their dogs. Now that I think about it, the roads and paths were designed so they allow folks to walk by your space but are a little lower that the adjacent pads. It seemed to me that folks didn't really come into view as they passed your site, sort of like an infinity pool, they were there but kind of the landscape. I don't know why I posted this other than to confirm the above quote.

My second biggest pet peeve is trash. Not just the litterer but also the folks that sometimes move a cigarette butt or gum wrapper out of their way and walk on. When I was in Boy Scouts our TM had a hard and fast rule, noting was to go into your right hip pocket unless you found and picked up litter from the ground.

He was not unreasonable and doggie doo was not included but the occasional bottle cap or gum wrapper were. Taught my girls that and now my grandkids. I now keep my left hip pocket for trash but I always was a rebel.

I was camping at a Navy FAMCAMP and kids rode a four-wheeler through my site and over my hookups. It tore up my sewer hose and pulled the end off the coax for the tv hookup.

I've also had people throw trash in the bed of my truck.

One time the neighbor parked his motorcycle under my awning so it wouldn't get wet.

I notice these things more and more as I get older. So it's getting worse or I am more attune to it. We camp a lot and my son knows the rules about how to behave and not cut through campsites. There are 2 issues at play. Ignorance - no one (parents) have ever taught their kids about etiquette, and apathy - people that know better and don't care. Last year I watched a group of about 5 kids walk right through our campsite as we were having dinner. Acted as though we weren't even there. I said something to them that they should not walk through other people's sites. They totally ignored me. became evident later as to why they behave that way. Parent's had a radio playing about 10:00 pm so loud the entire campground could hear it, made a bonfire that scorched the limbs of a tree about 20 feet above it and let their 6 year old drive a rented golf cart through everyone's site. They were eventually asked to leave the next day. But it pretty much ruined the experience for the weekend. And I am sure a lot of other people's as well.

A few years ago my grandson was camping with us. We were sitting around a campfire and my grandson then about 3-4 years old was cooking a hotdog on a stick. A couple in their 40-50s walked thru our site and both stepped over my grandson's cooking stick between him and the fire.
Another time I turned around to see a woman in her 50s walking thru our site next to our camper. My wife opened the door to come out just as the woman got next to the door. She yelled at my wife "Watch out. You almost hit me."
It's not just campground etiquette. It's just everyday common courtesy. The way they act camping isn't any different than the way they act when at home.